


A Molehill Traversed

by donutsweeper



Category: Peacemakers (2003)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M, Relationship Reveal, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: A storm, a soaking, and an unexpected reveal.
Relationships: Larimer Finch/Jared Stone
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	A Molehill Traversed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Settiai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/gifts).



On days like these Stone found himself considering pre-ordering his tombstone so it'd not only have the typical engraving of his name and the pertinent dates but also the phrase 'It was Finch's fault' on it because if the man didn't wind up putting him in an early grave, it'd be a miracle.

"Come on, Stone," Katie shouted over the storm. "Hurry up!" Come to think of it, he should probably order one for her too. Or maybe add 'and if it wasn't, blame Katie Owen' to his own.

Repositioning Finch's arm across his shoulders, he grabbed Finch tighter around the waist and picked up the pace, fighting against the wind with every step. "We're almost there, Finch. It's not much further now." He could tell that Finch was doing his best to help, but after his horse startled and threw him into the cold river his coordination was shot and staying mostly upright and putting one foot in front of the other seemed about the best he could manage.

All in all they were lucky. Well, lucky being a relative term. If they'd been really lucky, Finch would have listened to Stone in the first place and they would have waited to try to collect evidence from the murder site until after the storm hit because then all then all this could have been avoided since if lightning hadn't hit that tree when they were on their way back then Finch's horse wouldn't have spooked, tossed him into the water, and bolted. And if that hadn't happened Stone's horse wouldn't have lost its footing on the riverbank due to all the commotion and strained its foreleg. But, if all that had to have happened, Stone considered that they _were_ lucky that not only had Finch not been seriously hurt—he'd just had the wind knocked out of him and gotten soaked—but Katie still had her horse and that after some rest, his own horse would be fine and, most importantly, all of that took place only a mile or so from McGuire's old line shack.

The trek would have been easier if the trail to it was clear since then they could have just bundled Finch on Katie's horse and Stone could have led them there at a steady pace, but it wasn't used or maintained enough for that and in Finch's condition Stone didn't think he'd be able to stay in the saddle for it, even if one of them climbed on behind him. As it was, Stone was starting to think he was going to have to sling Finch over his shoulder to get him there and there was no way his back was going to survive doing that.

Thankfully just then Katie called out, "There it is!" and that seemed to spurn Finch forward some.

"I see it," he shouted once he got over the small hill and spotted it himself through a break in the trees. "Go on ahead! Finch and I will meet you there."

After giving him short wave, Katie quickened her horse's pace. With the reins of Stone's horse tied to her pommel she wouldn't be able to go too fast, but even at an easy canter she'd still probably get there get there ten or fifteen minutes before they would and she'd be able to use that time to get the horses situated in the lean-to and maybe even start a fire in shack's potbelly stove.

Finch stumbled then and they both fell. "Damn it, Larimer, you're not giving up on me, are you?" he grumbled when Finch just lay there, dazed and limp. Thankfully, after some prodding and pulling he managed to get Finch up and he all but dragged him the last hundred or so yards. 

Stone had been right and Katie had barely gotten a fire started, but simply being out of the wind and drizzle made a tremendous difference in how cold it felt. Overall it wasn't much of a place; the stove sat in the center of the room with a small table and chair up against the wall to one side with some shelves with a few meager supplies on the other. Opposite the door was a set of bunk beds, each covered with a dusty flour sack sheet and wool blanket. "We're in luck, not only is there this stack of firewood here but there was a pretty decent woodpile under some canvas outside too," she said as she slowly added more kindling to build up the fire. "How's he doing?" 

"I don't know. He's not shivering much anymore." Stone led Finch to the chair but once there Finch more collapsed into it than sat down. "Finch, can you hear me?" Finch blinked up at him and slurred something that Stone couldn't understand. "Finch?"

Finished with the fire for the moment, Katie came over and pressed her palm against Finch's cheek, then his forehead and then the back of his neck. "It's the cold, his skin is like ice. I checked him over when he first fell and he hadn't hit his head so I don't think that's why he's not responding but being too cold can be serious. We have to get him out of these wet things. Clothing's only good if it can keep him warm and as wet as he is, it's just making him colder."

As soaked as it all was, it wasn't easy to get Finch's various layers off. Shifting to the bed partway into the process helped a little and it let them dry him with one of the sheets and then wrap the other around him along with the blankets. 

After again trying, and failing, to get Finch to respond to them, Katie said, "He's still too cold; I don't think we can wait for the stove to heat the room. Stone, you need to take your shirt off and climb in with him to warm him up."

"Me? But, umm—" 

"Well, I'd offer to do it, but it'd be awkward and if I'm not mistaken, lying with him is nothing you haven't done before." 

Despite it still being cool in the shack, Stone felt his face warm up. "How did you figure it out? We've been careful."

"Oh, please. The way you two are with each other? It's not hard to tell if you know to look for it. Not that I think most townsfolk would. A relationship between a man and a woman? They'd have no problem seeing that, but when it's between two men? It wouldn't occur to most of them that it's even a possibility. I know better though."

"Katie—"

"Stone, I've suspected for a while and haven't treated you any different as a result and I don't see how knowing for certain will change that. As long as it makes the two of you happy, I don't care. And it does, doesn't it?"

Looking down at Finch, Stone found himself smiling. "Yeah."

"I thought so. You've been different ever since Finch came to town, he's been good for you." Adding some more wood to the stove she dumped the remainder out of its bucket and then headed for the door. "I'm going to go see to the horses and get more wood. You strip down and climb in next to him. Your body heat'll be the best thing for him." And then she was gone.

As quickly as he could, Stone undressed and then slipped behind Finch, hissing when his chest pressed against Finch's cold back. "So, I guess you were right," he said as he grabbed the blankets and tucked them tight around them. "Learning about us didn't bother Katie at all. We should have told her earlier. I was wrong. There I said it. You were right and I was wrong, I admit it." He'd had some vague hope that saying that would have gotten some sort of rise out of Finch but he didn't respond.

Katie returned a little while later. "I'm not as good with horses as Isaac, but I think with a little liniment, and maybe some time, your horse will be fine."

"That's a relief."

"I gave them each some oats and rubbed them down," she added as she tended the fire. The stove was beginning to warm the small room nicely. 

"Thanks, Katie."

After hanging up her coat she came over to check on Finch. "When did his shivering start up again?"

"Just a minute or two ago. That's a good sign, right?"

"A really good sign. Finch?" she tapped his cheek a few times. "Finch, I need you to wake up now."

Finch made a small, soft noise before suddenly startling awake, shaking and thrashing and obviously very confused. If Stone hadn't been holding him so tightly and basically trapping his arms, Finch would have probably wound up hitting either him or Katie. "Finch, calm down, I got you. Finch! Damn it. Finch, it's okay. Calm down. Larimer, you're all right. You're okay, I got you."

"Jared?" His teeth were chattering loudly enough he was almost hard to understand.

"Yeah, I'm right here. Remember how you decided to take a swim in the river? Well, it turns out October's a little too cold for that and we had to get you warmed up."

"A swim? I didn't decide…" 

"Well, maybe it wasn't technically your decision to get up close and personal with the water, but it was your damned insistence that we had to do another search of McKenna's ranch before the storm hit."

"And I was right. That boot print would have been washed away and without it or those cigar stubs there's no way we couldn't have proven that it wasn't—" Finch broke off suddenly and, despite his shivering, stiffened as he seemed to take in their surroundings. "Katie? W-what's going on? Where are we?"

"Between you being so wet and the storm, especially with all that wind, you got too cold. Dangerously so. It would've taken you too long to get you back to town, especially since we were down to only one rideable horse, so we brought you here—McGuire's old line shack—to get you warmed up. Skin-on-skin contact's the quickest way so, considering what you two are to each other, Stone took on that job." Katie smiled down at the two of them and it was the kind of smile that always made Stone a bit nervous: mostly fond and a little relieved, but with a touch of teasing and a hint of underlying trouble behind it all. 

"What we are?" Finch asked, feeling his way about, maybe not completely certain whether Katie knew about them or not. Considering he still was shaking like a leaf, Stone couldn't really blame him for not picking up on it right away.

"That you two are having relations," she explained simply, in the same tone she'd use when discussing the weather. Reaching out, she felt his forehead and peered into his eyes. "You seem pretty clear now and not while not as warm as you should be, you're getting there. Looking pretty comfortable too, almost sweet." Ah, there was teasing.

Stone hugged Finch a little tighter and tapped his hand against Finch's chest. "I didn't have to say anything to her, she already knew."

"Well, of course she did." Finch lay his hand over Stone's and gave it a squeeze.

When he didn't say anything else, Stone asked, "You're not going to tell me 'I told you so'?"

"That would be gloating and I don't gloat," he replied which had Katie raising an eyebrow at him while Stone snorted; they'd both experienced Finch gloating on numerous occasions. "After winning a chess game, yes, or about the fact that I was right that we would find evidence at a certain ranch that would give us the clues we needed to solve a case, certainly, but not about something like this. I wouldn't."

"Yeah, I guess not," Stone admitted. 

"I already told Stone, but I want you to know too. I'm happy for you, Finch."

"Thank you, Katie."

"Although, I have to know," her smile was all trouble now, "is Stone always such a grouchy old curmudgeon? Even when it's just the two of you?"

"Well…." 

"Hey!" He wasn't sure if it was in response to his protest or the look on his face when he'd complained, but Katie started laughing. Finch joined in and Stone found something in him relaxing at the sound, at the moment. Despite scaring the hell out of him, Finch was going to be okay and it'd turned out that Katie'd found out their secret a while ago and it hadn't cared in the least. The day, which had started so awfully, was ending so well, better than he'd ever hoped, and pretty soon he found himself laughing along with them.


End file.
